The day started really early for me! Being out of work I have been sluggishly getting up late, around 10am so this 7am wake up to be out the door by 7:30am so I can gas up and the like was really tough! Even Tyke had a hard time getting up this morning!

Wakie wakie Tyke! Time to Ride!

As the ride title entitles it is a Good Bye to the Bay Area Ride. Tyke and I are heading East, moving to Maryland. Have no fear I don’t plan on giving up Tyke or Riding, except maybe during the Winter months! Hehe.

What better way to say goodbye than an awesome ride on a road I hadn’t been on. So that’s the plan! Cara organized the ride it was very cool of her to do so!

The start of the ride is over in Fremont at a, you guessed it, Starbucks! What ride isn’t complete without starting at some coffee house or another! It is in rider’s blood, or at least the caffeine is!  I did not get a shot of the Starbucks as they are all starting to look the same! (In fact this is the same Starbuck we all met at to go to the Murphys ride before! We recycle! Hehe!)

Anyway! The ride was awesome! I do have some pictures of the journey, but! We must start at the beginning!

(SBR Note – some pictures are repeated from the other’s threads… I just joined them to make up one whole story! )

Not everyone slacked off at the Starbucks, Curt and Cara broke out their cameras and took a few pictures of the adventurers before the adventure started!

Me – Picture by Cara

Curt checking out my GPS – Picture by Cara

Jeff – Picture by Cara

Time to get going!

Me ready to go! – Picture by Cara

Jeff – Picture by Cara

Curt – Picture by Cara

Good to go! Cara and I – Picture by Curt

Our route, curtsey of my GPS, lovely things really! Now I always know where I have gone and will be.

The first leg is familiar to most riders in the area. Niles Canyon is a beautiful road when you can get it without traffic. It was kind of occupied when we were on it but still a beautiful road during this change of seasons. The trees were spectacular! I suggest getting out there to enjoy the colors!

After Niles we hit 84 to Vasco road to Mines. We were met there by another one of our party members, Robert.

Curt like me is a Photo Ninja. Taking pictures while riding is tough. I heard rumors about this road so I choose not to take pictures while riding (yet.) Curt sent over a few to share.

On Mines Road, Me, Tyke, Cara, and her Ninja – Picture by Curt

We paused for a break part of the way through Mines and that gave me a chance to get my camera out and the others took a few too!

Robert and I – Picture by Cara

Cara and Curt

Some Cows

Some road… Need I say more?

Now I know I will be back in CA I just don’t know when or even if I will be on this road again so I kinda made a stop in between the last stop and the one to come to snap two pictures. Cara, rightly, was worried that the others would think we crashed, I though figured they would just think I was slow, which I was. Either way I think the pictures turned out great.

Tyke -

Cara – She really is to good to me, spoils me and lets me get away with to much! Any other sweep would have got off her bike and kicked my butt back to mine hehe.

We road along the beautiful road until it came to the Junction (Literally) there we stopped for some pictures and some posing. Junction, named so by the intersection of Mines Road and Del Puerto.

The sign – Picture by Curt

The group – Picture by Curt

Robert, Me, and Cara – Picture by Curt

Cara and I – Picture by Curt on Cara’s Camera

What are they conspiring – Photo by Curt, Not Us says Cara

Jeff, Robert, Curt and Cara

Close up group shot, picture by a gent named Darryl with my Camera

Far away, again by Darryl with my Camera

Tyke

The plan now was to go up Del Puerto! Lets go!

The road, under different circumstances would have been wonderful!! Those black patches of gravel though threw me for a loop! I was also weary of the Cow Crossings. But the road is a great road if you can get past those!

Next up is a right turn onto Diablo Grande. Now a lot of people have their roads that they consider their race tracks. This one, though racing is not my thing, is a beautiful sweeping road! Simply beautiful. Wide straights, sweeping curves and hardly a vehicle in sight! What more could you wish for!?

It took me a while to catch up to the others going the pace I was going but they didn’t seem to mind as they were still ‘suffering’ the euphoria of the road… Good thing they got to do it again!

How was that road Cara?

We stopped at Patterson to get some gas and potty break so I snapped a few photos of the beautiful landscape

Tyke and a fountain

The fountain by which Tyke was parked.

So I didn’t forget, this is not the ODO from the end of my ride but when I got to Cara’s home.

Needless to say by the end of the day Tyke broke 7K miles.

After a long day of riding it is always nice to get together with friends and grub! Cara’s best friend, my friend, Jennie hosted a BBQ just for me! Well that was fantastic! I spent the time with Cara before going to the BBQ where we of course talked into the night!